On the train home to Bristol following a disastrous and possibly career-ending client meeting,
Tom Winscombe, a disillusioned junior PR executive, bumps into
George Burgess, biographer of the
Vavasor twins – mathematicians Archimedes (Archie) and Pythagoras (Pye) – who died in curious circumstances a decade ago (Pye murdered with a set square and Archie by his own hand). Tom is intrigued, perhaps because it reminds him of his old flame
Dorothy Chan, who was obsessed with the mystery. When Burgess gets off the train, he leaves behind a locked case, which Tom takes home with him. Later that night, Burgess dies, his jugular vein pierced by a mathematical compass.
Tom spends the next day on the internet researching the mystery, much to the annoyance of his girlfriend Lucy. Once he finds out about Burgess’s death, however, he resolves to abandon the whole thing and try to sort out his problems at work. He drives to Burgess’s house in Swindon to give the case back to whoever is dealing with things, but before he can do this, he gets distracted by a man with an East European accent who is acting oddly. He chases after him but loses his car keys and smashes his mobile phone in an altercation. The man is then knocked over by a black Mercedes and then dragged into the car by thugs while Tom hides in Daphne Holmfirth's front garden.
Tom, having left his wallet in his locked company car, now has to wait until Lucy brings him the spare key that evening after her Zumba class. He spends the time in Swindon library, reading Burgess’s previous book, Shroud of Ecstasy, about an absurd pseudo-religious conspiracy theory. Next day, he goes into work and is summarily dismissed for having insulted a valuable client, Benny Olafson. He decides this is a sign that he should now devote his energies to finding the truth about Archie and Pye, an impression amplified by an acceptance to the Vavasorology.com online forum. He puts up a brief newbie post, and then scans the threads for more information, gathering that there is apparently a theory going round that Archie and Pye were both assassinated by the Belarusian mafia. At this point, however, he realises he has left Burgess’s case in the company car he’s just given back.
Next day, he goes to fetch the case, only to find that the car has gone back to the lease company and the case is now in the possession of one of the mechanics whose wife is about to give birth and won’t be available for several days. He arrives back home to find a message inviting him to lunch with Rufus Fairbanks, a financier with an interest in the Vavasor story.
Fairbanks has tracked Tom down after his initial forum posting and probes Tom for information about Burgess’s case, although Tom denies all knowledge. Fairbanks gives the impression of knowing much more about the mystery, but offers precious little to Tom, apart from ridiculing the idea of mafia involvement and mentioning his own alibi.
Tom now draws up a list of who to talk to next. The first one is Diana Cheeseman, Burgess’s agent. He calls her, but she is cagey, although she offers to help if he can get hold of Burgess’s final manuscript. She also gives him the name of Burgess’s publisher, Hilary Van Beek.
Tom meets Van Beek and her assistant Benjamin the next day, only to find her clearing up after a break-in and not very co-operative. When he gets home, he posts a message about the break-in on the forum, only to be contacted by another user, EulerIsGod, who warns him to be careful because people are getting killed. Shortly afterwards, Benjamin calls to say he’s just found Van Beek strangled with a spline. Tom tells EulerIsGod about this, and they arrange to meet up, whereupon it turns out that EulerIsGod is in fact Tom’s old flame Dorothy Chan, who is now an independent software developer. Dorothy is very excited to find out that Tom has got hold of Burgess’s case, because she thinks it will contain the Vavasor Papers, with the solutions to several longstanding mathematical problems. She is incandescent, however, when she realises that he no longer has the case.
Next day, Tom borrows Lucy’s car to retrieve the case from the leasing agent. On the way home, he is convinced that he is being followed by a black Mercedes and during a terrifying chase, he trashes the car, only to find out the Mercedes was just trying to get past him. After an argument, Lucy throws Tom out and installs her Belarusian Zumba teacher, Arkady, in his place. Tom moves into his dissolute father’s static caravan.
Tom takes the case to Dorothy’s office in London, where he meets her abrasive business partner Ali. Dorothy and Tom now try to open the six-digit combination lock on the case, during which they spar with each other about numbers and maths in general. They eventually guess the code and the case reveals the manuscript and the mathematical papers, as well as a torn greetings card and Burgess’s notes, which include the address of the Vavasors’ long-lost housekeeper, Mrs Standage. It also contains a tracking device, which has attracted the attention of a mysterious biker who looks very much like the man Tom encountered in Swindon. Tom manages to smuggle the device onto a passing lorry, deflecting the attention of the biker.
Tom now goes to see Mrs Standage but he is too late as she has been poisoned by a pie. He does, however, retrieve her cat, µ, which used to belong to Archie and Pye and which he takes back to Dorothy and Ali. Tom now visits Diana Cheeseman, who is living under 24-hour security. In return for Burgess’s manuscript, she tells Tom her theory that Burgess was deliberately hired to muddy the waters and divert attention away from a big family secret.
Tom returns to find Dorothy very excited to have discovered a code in the birthday card from Burgess’s case which suggests that Pye may have been having an illicit affair with Archie’s lover, the Vixen. They now decide to interrogate µ by showing her photos of various people and seeing how she reacts. The worst reaction is to a picture of Rufus Fairbanks doing a deal with a heavy-looking bunch of people to extract shale oil in Belarus.
Tom now goes back to Bristol to fetch his things, only to hear from Ali that Dorothy has been kidnapped by the Belarusian mafia who want to exchange her for Burgess’s case. Arkady arranges for his friend Sergei to attach a tracking device, although when Tom makes the exchange, it actually turns out to be a bomb. Dorothy and Tom escape, although Dorothy is furious that the mathematical papers have probably been destroyed. She works out that Sergei’s younger brother Maxim studied with Archie and Pye, and the bomb was revenge for Maxim’s murder back in Swindon. They go through the list of people again and Dorothy realises that the dedicatee of Shroud of Ecstasy is actually a vicar in Swindon, Rev Colin Fuchs. From him they find out that his sister Cressida may be the connection between Burgess and the Vavasors, and he gives them her address. He also reveals that she spells her surname Fox, and Dorothy realises she is Archie and Pye’s Vixen.
Dorothy has to go back to finish some software, so Tom goes to visit Cressida alone. She is not there, but her husband, who turns out to be Rufus Fairbanks, is. He has been killing people to avoid the truth coming out, which is that Archie and Pye were working for him to help the Belarusian mafia with investment algorithms to help with money laundering. He is about to kill Tom when Dorothy returns and hacks into his home intranet, playing havoc with his domestic appliances, resulting in his death by Magimix. All ends well.
